Disclaimer: I do not own either the RWBY series or the Fallout franchise nor am I seeking to make a profit from this story.

Sleep was a welcome reprieve from the humming of the airship for Anim. Once the aircraft was up and flying the ambient sound only worsened his tiredness. It was relatively empty which was nice because it meant no talking around him. The girls went off and didn't bother him, opting to look around and down at the distant earth, and Anim quickly found a comfortable corner and knocked out.

"Wow," Yang whistled as she watched Anim sleep against the metal lining of the ship. "Like a statue, bet you anything he'll stay like that if he falls over."

"Don't get any ideas Yang," Weiss scolded. "I am not in the mood for your ridiculous antics."

Yang only shrugged and walked over the sleeping teammate with Weiss scoffing and turning away. "Idiot!"

"You know it's probably for the best if Yang wakes him up," Ruby pointed out as tried to calm Weiss down. "We're descending soon anyways."

Weiss only scoffed again in response while Blake ignored the two and kept her eyes on the city below them. Her bright amber eyes watched the building go by, her mind wandered between Anim and the impending school year.

'Just what will await us in the future? Not a week into the school year and Anim just arrives from another world. If this is the beginning, I can't even fathom what'll come next.'

"Blake."

She turned around to find Ruby looking at her concernedly. "Something the matter? You look sad."

Blake smiled and casually waved her hand. "It's nothing Ruby, just…thinking about stuff."

"Ahh," Ruby nodded. "Thinking about the big city?"

"I suppose."

"Actually," Ruby narrowed her eyes in confusion and rubbed her chin. "Have you been here before? I forget-Where did you say you were from again Blake?"

Nervousness squirmed down Blake's spine at the question. She had been hesitant to tell her team her personal information and had been avoiding the issue like a rampaging Ursa Major. "Uhh…well-"

"Woah!"

"No stop!"

The girls' widened as they heard Yang and Weiss's screams. Blake was slightly thankful for the distraction but the screams sounded urgent and not playful whatsoever. Running back to where the rest of their team was, both were horrified at what was unfolding. Somehow Yang was thrown over to the other side of the ship and was barely standing up. Anim sprinted forward and threw a fist aimed for the blonde's pretty face.

Yang dodged out of the way just in time for Anim's fist to slam into the metal wall of the ship. A small thud erupted from the blow followed with Anim hissing in pain and cradling his hurt hand.

"Ah! God damn!"

"What the hell was that?" Weiss yelled as she and Yang gave Anim a wide berth. Ruby and Blake were thoroughly confused by the entire spectacle but Yang only shook her head and tried to explain everything.

"It's alright guys! It's alright! I think I just startled Anim is all," Yang pointed out as she rushed over to Anim to inspect his hand. "I was joking around and tried to tip him over to wake him up, but he suddenly rushed up and slammed me into the wall."

The three girls just looked at each other blankly, incredulous at Anim's behavior. "Whose first instead is to punch something when they wake up?" Weiss asked.

"It's a natural…natural reflex," Anim said as he motioned to Yang he was alright after saying sorry. Yang nodded and gave Anim a reassuring pat on the back and an understanding smile. "When you live in a post-apocalyptic world with all those mutants and Raiders I told you about running around everywhere all the time, you have to protect yourself twenty four-seven. I developed that sleep reflex a while ago to fight off anything that would try to eat or burgle me at night. Works pretty well for a few seconds until I realize what's going on and start fighting for real, though it's never made me punch a wall before." He looked back at Yang and Weiss. "Sorry for the scare."

"It's no big deal," Yang waved off. Weiss only gave Anim a small glare of disapproval before heading to the front of the ship to disembark. Ruby and Blake both gave each other a shrug and followed suit with Yang and Anim behind them.

"So does this mean we can't ever get you to wake up?" Ruby asked.

Anim shook his head. "Alarms work. I trained myself to wake up to my Pip-Boy alarm so mornings aren't a problem. For something like this I guess just talking into my ear would work just fine, as long as doesn't seem threatening."

Ruby gave Anim a weird stare. "That was…oddly specific. The last part I mean. Did people really do that while you slept before they tried to…uhh…well…" She couldn't spit the final word out but Anim nodded in understanding and stopped her.

"Yeah, there were some really, really messed up people back on Earth."

"Really now?" Anim's eyes widened slightly at the breathy voice right up to his right ear. Yang suppressed a giggle as she kept whispering, adding more silkiness to her voice. "How about this? Would this work?"

To her surprise Anim only nodded and kept his eyes forward. "Yeah that'll work, though maybe a more casual tone would be better. I think I would get the wrong idea if I heard that in my sleep." Anim chuckled at his little joke and stepped off the airship leaving a blushing Ruby and a smirking Yang behind him.

"Why-" Yang shushed Ruby before she could voice her concerns.

"Just messing around Rubs," She plainly explained before walking off to join the rest of the team. "Don't wait up fearless leader!"

"Wow, this place is simply amazing." Anim marveled as he looked around the city. Heading down one of the main roads to downtown Vale City, Anim couldn't help but to gawk at how large and pristine everything was. "Man this place looks a lot like Earth before the bombs fell. There are cars running, straight paved roads, intact buildings, no mutants crawling around…"

"Good afternoon!" A passerby greeted as he passed them. "Lovely day isn't it?"

"Hello," Anim nodded curtly. His grin only grew as they kept walking along the street. "And no one has tried to mug or kill me yet!" He whispered loudly with excitement. "This is such a nice change of pace."

"Really?" Weiss asked. "We're here in the capital of Vale and you're most excited about that kind of stuff? I mean I know your world sounded terrible but there's so much more to Vale City than that."

"Such as?"

"The Vytal Festival for example," Weiss said.

Anim wanted to question the event further but Blake quickly gave a brief summary, already anticipating his question. "The festival is one of the largest ones in the entire kingdom. It's an international event that attracts people from all over the world and celebrates both Vale's culture and the worldly union each kingdom shares with one another."

"But," Ruby said as she turned to Anim with a wicked large grin on her face. "The best part about the festival is the Vytal Tournament!"

That got Anim intrigued. "A fighting competition?" Anim asked. Back in the Mojave the only tournament like thing he'd ever really here about was the Thorn arena. He never participated in those bloody brawls between the Wasteland's deadliest mutants but he did help find eggs for Red Lucy to restock the arena's mutant supply. She paid well enough, the Dinner Bell was a nice bonus though the sex was pretty weird given her stoic personality, and that was the end of his involvement with anything tournament related.

"Yep!" Yang cheered with a raised fist. "People from all five kingdoms participate and kick ass and Beacon is hosting it this year!"

Anim gave an appreciative whistle. "Sounds fun. You all planning on entering?"

All four girls gave an affirmative answer with Ruby and Yang being the most excited. One high five between the sisters later and the group found themselves deep into Vale City. Looking around, Anim realized that the city was much, much larger than he had originally anticipated. This weapons store would be ridiculously hard to find what with all the intertwining streets and stores. He needed directions and hopefully a guide.

Luckily he had the girls with him so he didn't have to find someone shady to taxi him around like that Orris guy back in Freeside. But as he turned around to ask for help he found Yang was already setting up their trip's agenda.

"Lunch first?" Those two simple words got furious nods from everyone else while Anim only shrugged and materialized an apple.

"I'm good," Anim said as he took a juicy bite from the fruit. "I'd much rather get my stuff out of the way before anything else."

"Nope!" Yang grabbed Anim's collar and started walking towards a nearby café, dragging Anim behind her. "You're new to our weird little world here so you should at least familiarize yourself with our food."

"But…apple," Anim dumbly replied but his words fell on deaf ears as the rest of the girls just simply followed Yang. Truth be told Anim was pretty stoked on eating everything Remnant had to offer. After eating mutant flesh and centuries old packaged meals he was ready for fresh, non-irradiated anything. The apples and Beacon's breakfast was already amazing and it could only get better from there.

Half an hour later and Anim was still struck speechless at what he and the girls just did. Could it get any better? Anim thought sarcastically as he blankly watched Ruby scarf down her last cookie. Good fucking god just eating lunch here is better than even the priciest meals at the Strip, and you get so much for next to nothing to boot! For less than twenty Lien they just ate enough food to last Anim a good week and a half if he was still back on Earth. The amount of food such a simple café had to offer was mindboggling. When they just entered the place there were trays filled with fresh baked pastries and different types of bread. The aroma of the café alone would've been enough to sedate even the craziest Feral Ghoul. Baskets of fresh fruits were on display by the register, actual, freshly brewed coffee was on the house with meal purchases, and even the tables provided untainted sugar, salt, and pepper.

Some of the meals on the menu were things Anim couldn't have even dreamed of eating. Yang's sandwich for example, with its soft bread and fresh veggies and cold cut meat, was something no one in the Wasteland could create, not even that crazy chef Philippe from the Ultra-Luxe. Weiss's salad, impossible to replicate back on Earth and the same goes for Blake's fish sandwich. His omelet and Ruby's milk and cookies were the only things he had actually eaten back on Earth though here there was a distinct lack of radiation exposure.

Truthfully his omelet was significantly less enjoyable than the Wasteland variety. Not because of a lack of flavor, if anything it's twice as delicious as the ones he's eaten before. However there's a huge difference in eating a good omelet and one made from an egg of the most vicious creature of the Wasteland.

"So what's the plan?" Anim asked. "Is everyone coming with or what?"

"Sorry but I'm already good on weapons and ammo," Yang apologized as she stood up. "I'm planning on getting that fall shopping on."

"I was thinking about visiting the local bookstore again," Blake said. She wiped the last few crumbs off her lips and stood up as well. "I know the owner and he said he received a new shipment this weekend. Sorry."

"I'm…" Weiss was interrupted by the beeping of her Scroll. Seconds later she put the device away, her face sporting a slight frown. "…heading back to Beacon apparently." She raised her hand to stop the inevitable question of why. "My father just emailed me and wants me to video chat with him."

"Can't finagle your way out of it?" Anim joked. Finagle, Veronica sure knew some funny words.

Weiss only replied with a short sigh and a head shake. "Unfortunately. Trust me between my father and everyone here, I'll choose you guys any day." Ruby's eyes widened slightly at the confession. Ever since Weiss had joined the team she was nothing but obnoxious and mean to everyone. But to hear her say that she still prefers Team RWBY plus one over her own dad was pretty shocking. "But for now my hands are tied." Weiss counted a few Lien bills and placed them on the table. "See you guys back in the room."

"Thanks and bye," Everyone waved as Weiss left hurriedly. Anim then turned to Ruby who only smiled back and gave him a thumbs up.

"I'm always up to browse weapons so I'm coming with. Plus seeing as how you're new to Vale...er and Remnant, you need a guide." She stood up as tall as she could and puffed her chest out with a brilliant smile. "And you won't find a better one than me."

'Heard that one before.'

Everyone quickly went their separate ways, agreeing to meet each other back at the dorm whenever. The walk to Stompson's store took the two through various avenues and roads. As the minutes started to pile atop on another, the silence between the two broke into small talk.

"So…"

"Yes? Something on your mind Ruby?" Anim asked as they turned a corner. He was briskly striding besides his team leader, his eyes darting between her and everything around them, taking in every new sight.

Ruby herself was slightly skipping next to Anim. "Mind telling more about yourself? I know you talked a lot about Earth, but you talk about yourself that much."

"Well, I worked as a courier."

"You mean a mailman?"

A pang of embarrassment shot through Anim as he realized Ruby's assumption was pretty spot on. Though a courier had to overcome mutants and the elements to earn his caps, they were pretty much wasteland mailmen. The image of himself in a pre-war postmaster uniform was very unwelcome, though very humorous nonetheless. "Uhh, yeah…I guess that's pretty true."

"Well you're the most awesomest mailmen I've ever seen," remarked Ruby as she gave Anim a big smile.

"Ah shucks Ruby," Anim scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.

"So did you deliver mail or…?" Ruby asked with a tilt of her head as she turned another corner.

"Not really. No one had any need for actual letters, so I just delivered packages back and forth between towns and settlements…I suppose." Anim answered skeptically.

"Suppose?"

"I…uh had a bad spout of amnesia a year ago and I don't really remember all that much about my past."

"What happened? You get bonked on the head or something?"

Anim chuckled darkly and rubbed his forehead scars. He was quick to move his hand so Ruby didn't notice when she turned back, letting his smile distract her. "Something like that. The doctor I mentioned earlier helped me get back on my feet. After that I just went back to work."

Ruby only blinked gave a smiling nod before she stopped suddenly and looked up. "This should be it."

"Really?" Anim looked around. The district was much less crowded and nicely kept than the main street of Vale. Cardboard boxes and various pieces of litter were scattered around the street and the road and sidewalk were suffering from large gashes. Even the streetlights were broken. It was like walking into the nicest street on Freeside on a nice day. "This doesn't seem like the place for a weapons store."

Ruby just shrugged and looked at the paper's scribbling again. "Well this is the address Smitty wrote down." She looked up and pointed at the bland gray metal door in front of them. "And there's the door…I think."

"Ruby," Anim muttered hurriedly, quickly catching her attention. "Did you bring your weapon?" She quickly shook her head and gave the boy a confused look. Anim only narrowed his eyes and walked up to the door. "Then stay behind me and stay close. If this goes south I don't want you to get hurt."

"But…"

Ruby's complaint was short lived as Anim brought pushed open the door and walked inside. He was prepared for the worst but instead was treated to a large warehouse stocked full of weapons, ammo, and machinery. Guns and blades of every sort gleamed under the high, bright lights, polished to perfection and placed on large metal shelves. Boxes of labeled ammo and bombs were stacked high against the wall. A few silver and blue guns were on various tables scattered throughout the room, glowing faintly with wires and blinking devices strapped to them. And in the middle of the room was a something Anim never thought he would see again.

It was a robot and a very human looking one at that.

"HALT!"

"Eep!" Ruby yelped in shock as the booming voice of machine echoed and boomed throughout the warehouse. The machine was as close to human as it could without skin grafts or clothing. It was about the same height as Anim and was watching them with two glowing orange eyes. Its mouthpiece was a speaker, colored brightly gold. Not a speck of dust or grime discolored the robot's body and its arms were lifted towards them with several gun barrels jutting out from its wrist joint. Several laser beams shot through the machine's knuckles and danced around the two students like they were maps on a blackboard.

"STATE YOUR BUSINESS!" The robot boomed. "FAILURE TO DO SO WILL RESULT IN YOUR IMMEDIATE EVISCERATION!"

Anim gave Ruby as reassuring a look as he could before clearing his throat. "We're here to find Stompson."

"WHAT BUSINESS DO YOU HAVE WITH CRANZ STOMPSON?"

"The framer Smitty sent us. He told me told find Stompson here to get my weapons upgraded."

A tense silence permeated throughout the room as the machine processed the information. Ruby and Anim gave each other a confused look before Ruby broke the silence. "Umm? Mister robot? Are you okay?"

The robot let down its arms and turned over to its right and then raised its arm to point towards an open door. "Cranz is through that door working on his latest project. Smitty called ahead and told him of your arrival soon." The robot explained a calmer and softer voice. "I apologize for the scare Mr. Anim and friend. But as this is a highly stocked weapons store and storage area security must be unforgiving lest unwanted unmentionables were to break in and steal our commodities."

"Uhh, thanks…uhh.."

"My serial number is 66639 however Cranz has designated me as CAL. It is a suitable name to call me." With that CAL motioned again to the door and turned its gaze back to the front door. "Please hurry, Cranz is very busy."

Both students gave the automaton a nod of thanks and hurried down through the warehouse. The short walk was made all the more enjoyable for Ruby as her eyes sparkled at all the weapons and equipment around them. "So cool!" She whispered as she forced herself to keep up with slightly less interested Anim.

Minutes later and the two arrived at a second part of the shop and from the look of all the heavy machinery and broken junk thrown about Anim surmised that it was Cranz's workshop. Cranz himself was sitting at a nearby table, his hands fiddling around with a small glowing pistol. The light reflected off of the man's spectacles as drips of sweat ran down his pale face. His long frazzled black hair lay untouched atop his noggin, controlled only by a pair of worn and weathered goggles strapped around his forehead. A greasy and torn lab coat covered his small frame while his black slacks were practically falling apart at the seams.

"Excuse me?" Anim greeted as he walked up to the weapon smith. Ruby lingered behind, walking at a snail's pace as she rubbernecked towards all the advanced prototypes around them.

"What do you want kid?" Cranz replied, his voice dripping with boredom as he kept his eyes on the pistol. "Just because you found a way passed CAL doesn't mean squat to me. Unless you're here for a big purchase or to get rid of those annoying piss-ants down the street I'm not interested. Or unless you're here to kill me, then start trying whenever you're ready."

"Kill-No!" Ruby exclaimed in horror as she tore away from the weapons. "Why-I don't think that's how you should greet your customers."

Anim chuckled. "Never heard a man give that kind of greeting so uncaringly before." Ruby gave Anim an uneasy look to which he just shrugged again. "What? You get used to it in the Wasteland after a while. Though usually the owner would just shove-"

The sound of a shotgun being reloaded grabbed Anim's attention and as he turned back to Cranz he found himself staring into the barrel of said shotgun. "- a shotgun in your face."

A small flicker signaled Cranz turning off the safety. Ruby's eyes were widened and though ever muscle in her body was telling her to either run or fight, her scared mind was telling her remain rooted and silent for fear of everything going horribly wrong otherwise. However Anim remained cool and put his hands up as a sign of surrender. Cranz still didn't look happy though.

"Smitty, or the framer, sent us, Anim and Ruby. You're Cranz Stompson right?"

The shotgun lowered by a miniscule amount at the mention of Smitty. Cranz gave a light scoff before jabbing the shotgun forward again, nearly hitting Anim's nose. He still didn't look pleased. "Yeah he mentioned something about two kids coming here today. And what does that laborer want?"

"It's actually about what I want Cranz," Anim corrected. "He told me to find you to help me fix my weaponry."

"And why me? He's perfectly capable of fixing anything you kids made up back when you were still trotting around in primary combat school."

Anim gave a sigh before lightly shoving the barrel away from his face, letting him face Cranz eye to eye. Luckily the man didn't resist. "Because I have weapons he has never seen before."

"Do tell," Cranz lazily droned as he lowered his shotgun, convinced that Anim wasn't about to try to rob him. "What is it then?"

"Actually it's more like what are they." Ruby piped up from the side. Cranz turned and gave the young girl a puzzled glare before he nodded for her to continue. "Well Anim has a bunch of cool weapons. And a lot of them I've never seen before either. He has gauntlets that can shoot out a blast of energy like a shockwave and-and the most awesomest giant laser gun that's like totally huge and can shoot a super death ray that can destroy anything in its way and-"

"Enough!" Cranz seethed as Ruby quickly covered her mouth in obedience and stopped rambling. Halfway through Ruby's speech his eyes had widened once the prospect of energy weaponry came up. He turned back to Anim and asked, in a much more impatient tone, "And if what she's saying is true, where is your supposed awesome weaponry?"

"Back at Beacon with Smitty. He said he wanted to hold on to them for now to examine them."

Cranz grumbled in slight disappointment and hurried off to grab his Scroll. "Wait a minute while I contact Smitty. I want to see what kind of EML weaponry you're talking about." Seconds later Smitty appeared on video chat. "Smitty! I've got two kids here-"

"Oh hey Cranz! Anim and Ruby made it huh? Didn't scare them with that fuckin' robot of yours did ya?" Smitty greeted as he cut off an annoyed Cranz.

"Shut up and listen you poor fool!" Cranz nearly screamed, repressed excitement and anger spilling into his voice. "They're babbling on about some EML weaponry that should not exist and making them sound like toys." Ruby chuckled embarrassingly at that jab. "Explain-"

"You mean these?" Smitty pulled into view the Displacer Gloves and Tesla Cannon. If Cranz wasn't so reserved he would've had to pick his jaw up from the floor. Instead he only gave the barest of grins while his eyes sparkled with curiosity. "Neat huh?"

Cranz licked in lips in excitement. "So they are energy propelled gloves and an EML cannon."

"Hell if I know. Can't get the damn things to power up. That's why I need you here."

"Surely there's more too it then that, even an Ursa can get something like that to recharge."

Smitty heartily laughed at the insult. "Yeah nice to see your sense of humor is still as shitty as ever. But yeah…there's more to it. I'll explain it to you once you get your ass over here."

"And why can't you just come here? I'm not spending ten Lien on an airship ride up to Beacon."

"For fuck's sake!" Smitty hollered over the video chat. "Stop living by the Lien and start living properly ya damn greedy bastard! I swear every time it's like talking to a fucking ATM with an engineering degree-just get up here Cranz! I ain't gonna ask nicely again."

"Argh!" Cranz groaned loudly, knowing full well that Smitty was not going to let up. "Fine! But I want compensation for helping out on your student's little pet project!" He looked up to find Anim and Ruby still standing still and awkwardly trying to ignore the argument. "And either they're paying or you are!"

"Sorry bitch but according to you earlier I'm just a poor fool," Smitty complained with a mock whine. "I'm doing this for free for…reasons, plus I'm paid to help students at Beacon."

"Well I'm not some charity going around helping the poor-"

"You're a fucking multi-millionaire!" Smitty roared. A deft silence shot through the room with Cranz and Smitty locked in a deadly staring contest.

"Really?" Anim asked in surprise. "And you're still working here in a bad part of town in a warehouse?"

"The lease here in the outskirts of the city is cheap and there's ample space so I don't have to pay for offsite storage which would cost me thousands for the amount of weaponry I have in stock." Cranz replied like it was fully recited. "And before you ask I don't by new clothes or clean because that's a waste of money too." Ruby gave a sound akin to barfing while Anim only nodded in understanding, even if he didn't agree with the lifestyle. "For instance these have suited me find for the past few months."

"But they're falling apart." Ruby pointed out. Cranz took one step towards Ruby in annoyance and was about to tell her off before his right pant leg suddenly fell down and pooled around his dusty worn leather shoes, revealing his less than pristine gray briefs. "See?" She affirmed while covering her eyes as to not catch an eyeful of the man's undergarments.

Cranz only muttered something Anim was sure was not child friendly while Smitty was guffawing at his old partner's bad luck. Anim snickered as he watched Cranz throw away the pant leg and went back to arguing with Smitty. The two bickered back and forth before Anim thought of something. Clearing his throat to grab their attention, he offered a solution.

"Listen, maybe we can settle a deal Cranz."

The unkempt smith remained silent for a few seconds as he contemplated the idea. "Fine," he agreed. "What do you have in mind?"

"You mentioned before that there were some ants down the street bothering you right?" Anim asked as everyone gave him a weird look. "What? He said something about ants right?"

"I said piss-ants you idiot."

"Yeah that. So they're ants that drink pee…right?" Anim asked slowly as he suddenly realized he was horribly wrong.

Smitty's laughter brought Anim's awkwardness to a whole new level and Ruby's giggling didn't help either. Cranz was close to cracking a smile himself, but he focused on the negotiations at hand. "No. That's not what a piss-ant is. What I'm talking about concerns an armed gang whose hideout happens to be two blocks down the street. They call themselves the Vale Hounds and they've been here for the past few months, robbing folks and killing the occasional pedestrian who resists their mugging. The thugs are demanding protection money or else they'll threaten to break in."

"Why don't you call the police?" Ruby asked, growing scared now that armed murderers were being brought up. "I'm sure that'll get rid of them."

"You don't think that hadn't crossed my mind yet?" Cranz asked sarcastically. "I've called the police down here twice already and the only thing those morons have done was try to talk the idiots to death. Last time they threatened force but the Hounds just left and came back the next day. Can't arrest them either because there's no proof besides rumors and shaky eye witness accounts."

"And what's stopping you and a whole shop full of weaponry from just beating them down?" Anim asked, trying to be serious and shift the attention away from his blunder. "I mean I'm pretty sure you can just send CAL down there to clean them out."

Cranz sighed. "It's not like I hadn't thought about doing that either. But the problem is that any damage I'm going to do will most likely alarm the local authorities. I'm not much a fighter and CAL will level the place if I send it. Anyway you put it the Vale police will come around and this time make me pay for damages. It'll no better than paying the protection money."

"I'll take them out."

"What?" Cranz and Ruby exclaimed, Cranz out of slight joy, Ruby out of fear.

"You'll do that?" Cranz asked. "Cause that'll do nicely as a return favor. I don't care how you get rid of them, just make sure they're not here by the end of the day."

"You're not going." Ruby stated as she ran in front of Anim with her arms extended. "It's too dangerous for you to go without weapons. And as team leader of RWBY plus one I'm not going to put you in danger Anim."

"Mind if I borrow something?" Anim asked as he ignored his leader's pleas.

Cranz shook his head in defiance, silencing the video chat once Smitty started hollering at him again. "And waste valuable ammo and possibly a gun in the event that you die out there? Absolutely not."

"Can I buy something cheap to use?"

"You got seven hundred Lien on you?" Anim slowly shook his head, looking over to Ruby he found she was mimicking him. "I thought so. I only sell the best here and since I built all my merchandise, I expect large figures. Cheapest weapon I got here is seven hundred. Either you pay up front now or you go out there barehanded."

"So you're going to just send a weaponless student out there to fight a gang by himself?" Anim asked cynically. "I know you look out for your own interests first but that's pretty low. Imagine what will happen if I start spreading those kinds of rumors around town?" He had to stop himself from actually shouting in anger. In front of him Ruby's eyes widened as she tried to make sense of what Anim was doing. Was…was he blackmailing Cranz?

A fiery glare of pure hatred flashed through Cranz's bespectacled eyes. "You wouldn't dare." He argued, pure poison dripping from his voice. If his customers and contractors were to find out…

"Then give me something, or else you'll be dirt poor in no time." Anim threatened as he took a tentative step forward. Cranz was not a large man, hardly even taller than Ruby, so Anim was easily towering above him. "Well?"

"Fine," Cranz relented after a few tense seconds. He hobbled away to a far corner of the warehouse, nearly tripping a few times as the fallen pant leg swung crazily each time he took a step. It took all of Anim and Ruby's willpower not to laugh at the filthy millionaire. When he finally came back he held in his hands a small grey steel combat knife and handed it to the student. The handle was made from industrial grade rubber and as Anim tightened his grip around it he found the weight and balance to be superb. Looking up and down the blade he found several green lights embedded within the blade itself, dimly glowing. "You better not die out there you con artist! I want this back when you're done." Anim looked from the blade to find Cranz somehow hobbling back again to them, this time with two small clips of ammo. "Took me months to create this prototype."

"What is it?" Ruby asked in slight awe. She was about to go into weapon crazy mode again, but severity of the situation kept that side of her at bay.

"Prototype PL-473," announced Cranz, taking the blade from Anim and popping open the bottom of the blade's handle to stuff a clip in. "It's a combat knife that can transform into a small concealable pistol. Once I finalize the product I plan on selling then en masse to the Vale army as a sidearm." Once everything was properly loaded and set he handed the blade back to Anim, the student voicing a quiet thanks. "And what better way to finalize my product than with a test run?" Right dummy?"

"Sure," Anim lamely replied. Granted the PL-473 felt like any old good blade, but it's fairly small. "I get that it's supposed to be a light pistol slash knife, but wouldn't the pistol be way too small to do any damage? I doubt this small of a caliber can even pierce armor."

"Hah!" Cranz laughed as he grabbed the knife back. With a flick of his wrist the blade folded within itself like some kind of alien Rubiks Cube and into the tiniest pistol Anim had ever seen. It made a .38 Revolver look like a behemoth, however it did look much nicer. The barrel was studded with the same dim glowing lights that were in the blade while the rest of the pistol was covered in shiny grey steel. The rubber grip now covered the trigger while the stock had some intricate flowery flair-like detailing on it. "Of course children like you wouldn't understand. This is a prototype for a reason. I've been working on using various Dust in liquid form to cover the bullets in a sludge as they are fired from the barrel. I've had little success on larger gun models because the amount of Dust needed would've start bleeding through the gun under stress. Smaller models were much more successful, hadn't had a malfunction yet."

"That's…reassuring." Ruby noted with an unconvinced tone.

Cranz merely ignored her worries. "Anyways, PL-473 does use smaller caliber bullets, 15mms in fact, but each one, when fired, is coated in a mixture of fire, energy, and lightening Dust. One shot and even steel plating will melt like butter in summer."

"Woah," Ruby whispered. Anim only nodded in agreement. The weapon was eerily similar to Earth's Plasma Pistol, but whereas that weapon can turn anything into a puddle of radioactive sludge, this gun would only melt flesh, metal, and bone into acidic goop. How comforting to know some things hardly changed.

"Only two clips?" Anim jokingly complained.

Cranz rolled his eyes. "Say what you will, I'm not giving you anymore. That's almost half my 15mm ammo stock right there. You can't find this caliber in regular stores, so I have to make the ammo myself too, which means you're literally shooting my money away. And that does not make me happy. Be glad I haven't already called the authorities on you yet."

"As if they would believe a quarter naked man as clean as a Pigrat in a junkyard to tell the truth." Anim pointed out, forcing more irritated moans from Cranz. Ruby gave a slight giggle despite her fears coming to fruition and her confusion on what a Pigrat was. "Anyways, you have any info on what kind of weapons these Hounds are packing? I'd like to not charge in blindly if I can."

"They have the usual assortment of weaponry petty thugs around of Vale carry. Most of the grunts have long swords, a few pack simple pistols, maybe throw in a SMG or two in the mix. That's the most I can tell you. But I'm sure you'll be fine. They are only human after all."

"No Anim!" said Ruby as she reformed her wall. "Even if you have this super cool gun I'm not letting you go!"

"Cranz has a point," Anim acknowledged. "They're only human, not Grimm. I can take 'em."

"No!" Ruby let her wall down and tightly hugged Anim, shocking him. "Please don't go."

"Ru-."

"We'll get you new weapons." Ruby argued frantically as she started to panic, her eyes locking into Anim's with silent pleas. "We'll get Smitty to you loan you something. I-I'll make you something back at Beacon. I'm a great weapon smith, I made Crescent Rose all by myself and I can make something for-"

"Rub-."

"At least let me go with you!"

"No! I'm not putting you in danger." There was no way in hell he was going to put Ruby in danger. Never mind the gun toting thugs; he was scared of just holding this face melting gun anywhere near her.

"I'm not some defenseless girl Anim! Sure I don't have Crescent Rose with me right now but I can still fight!"

"Ruby!"

The little girl looked up to Anim as he patted her head affectionately, trying his best to calm her down. Her grey eyes were reddening while they stared back into Anim's warm green ones. "Don't worry. I've been through a lot worse." His words and tone carried an unparalleled level of truth in them and after hearing his proclamation Ruby knew he was right in that regard. From his stories to this morning, there was no doubt that Anim lived through near impossible odds.

"Fine," Ruby whispered. Giving Anim one more big hug she let him go. "Just…just be careful okay." She pleaded in a tiny voice. "And…I know that back on Earth you were forced to…to kill people. But…but if you can, please don't kill them." Ruby pleaded. She wasn't so innocent as to think that there weren't bad men and women out there in Remnant that deserved to be killed. Signal Academy taught her the more difficult roles huntsmen and huntresses had outside of killing Grimm in that many were called upon to kill humans and Faunus who needed to be dealt with using lethal force. Whether they were murderers, terrorists, organized crime, or psychopaths, these people had to be killed to ensure the safety of Remnant. But these Hounds didn't sound like they did anything to deserve that fate; there was no pressing need to kill them when jailing them was fine. Ruby dreaded the day she would have to kill someone though. Sure she had been in life threatening fights with people before, like the one she had recently with Roman and his thugs, but she couldn't bring herself to seriously injure them. A kick there, a slam there, and a few smacks by Crescent Rose's blunt edges were good enough. That would have to change eventually, but hopefully she would have plenty of time to prepare for that inevitability.

"Okay, I promise Ruby. No killing unless absolutely necessary. I'll be back before you know you it." Anim sighed a silent sigh of relief. He really didn't want Ruby to push the issue. He turned back to Cranz. "Two blocks right? Any special features about their hideout for me to look out for?"

"Take a right at the front door and go down two blocks. It's the small motel complex on the corner of the third block, bright green you can't miss it. It's been abandoned for some time so I would question the structural integrity of the place. Besides that you're on your own."

"Anyone special I should look out for?"

"Boss goes by the name of Dobern. Big mustached guy who had a shotgun last time I saw him. Pretty sure it can transform into a close combat weapon so be on your guard."

"Got it."

Anim quickly left, wanting to get the deed done with. He was about to digitize the blade until he realized Cranz hadn't brought up his Pip-Boy yet. Opting to not talk to the money loving businessman about his tech, Anim digitized the PL-473 outside. With Ruby and Cranz left the room quickly grew silent until Cranz went back to talking to Smitty. Ruby, not wanting to see anymore of Cranz's private areas went back to browsing the weapons, her mind praying that Anim would be safe.

Sure enough the small four floor motel complex was easy to spot, because if the colors didn't indicate the place the symbol above where a lone guard was standing certainly did. A set of red canines centered within a black circled marked the motel as Vale Hound territory. The scrawny Hound guard was smoking a cigarette as his sunglass covered eyes wordlessly scanned the empty road. When he saw Anim approach he quickly drew his pistol and leveled it to Anim's stoic face. "Stop right there pal."

Anim complied and the thug slowly walked forward. So far so good, not good for diplomacy but still good. At least these guys don't shoot on sight.

"That's better." The pistol was less than a foot away from Anim's nose. Unfortunately for the guard that meant his throat was definitely in range. "Now why on Remnant is a little kid here?"

"I'm looking for Dobern." Anim answered. "And since he's not here, I trust you can take me to him?"

"Yeah sure," The thug chuckled as he inched his pistol slightly closer. "I can take your corpse to him if you insist."

Anim's fist shot out like lightening and struck the man square in the Adam's apple and he followed it up with an uppercut to the guy's stomach, knocking the Hound straight onto his back, unmoving afterwards. Wasteland instincts kicked in as Anim was quick to pick up the pistol and start looting the man. He was halfway counting the Lien bills in the guy's wallet before he realized looting was probably frowned upon here on Remnant. "Ah well," He muttered. "Better to take all of this than to let a guy like him keep it. Besides, most of this was probably stolen anyways."

After tossing the man into a dark nearby alley and digitizing his loot, he made his way back to the previously guarded door. Materializing the PL-473 already in its pistol form, he sighed and readied himself for the fight to come.

Then again, maybe he would be lucky.

Opening the door like a normal guy would, he found there was no one else in the main lobby of the motel. It was old, dusty, and reeked of a certain stink Anim couldn't quite put his finger on. There were several hallways connected to the lobby and stairs by the opposite end. The only sign of human life were a few beer bottles and food packages strewn about the dusty floor. Lucky for him indeed.

Ducking into a crouch and silently moving across the ground floor of the complex, Anim began to systematically check each room. He had his ears peeled for any suspicious sounds and sure enough when he reached the bathroom he heard whistling.

Figuring the man wouldn't hear him waltz into the bathroom over his own tune, Anim walked in and found the Hound with his pants down relieving himself at a nearby urinal, his blood red long sword propped next the cracked porcelain bowl. Anim allowed himself to quietly hum along as he nonchalantly walked over. The Hound barely got a glimpse of the Beacon student before Anim grabbed the back of his head and slammed him face first into the crumbling tile wall. A bloody splatter and trail followed the man down to the bottom of the urinal where he happily slept in his own bloody piss concoction with a broken nose and a serious concussion. Looting, despite how dirty it was, proceeded.

Unfortunately the slam was a bit too loud and soon Anim heard two voices coming from the other side of the bathroom hallway.

"You sure you heard something?" One of the Hounds asked as his voice got ever closer. "The idiot probably slipped and fell. Wouldn't that be a sight?"

"Hey I'm just being thorough here. The boss will kill us both if there's an asshole crawling around here that we couldn't find." The second one barked back as he entered the bathroom. His eyes quickly landed on his mate's body and he couldn't help but crack up. "No fucking way! You were totally right! Hahahaha! How the fuck did he manage that? Hahaha!"

Both Hounds quickly laughed a storm as Anim kept hidden in a nearby stall, crouching on a closed toilet. He was glad the idiots didn't realize their friend's sword was missing, otherwise they might wise up and start alerting the whole motel building.

Suddenly a large boom voice shattered the laughter. "Stop laughing and get back to work! One more peep from the first floor and I'll shove Gou Zhua down your fucking throats!" The two Hounds quickly quieted down after that.

"Hey…wait a minute." One of them said after a few more silent seconds. "Where's his sw-"

That was Anim's cue. Kicking the stall door open and digitizing Cranz's prototype, he caught the two Hounds by surprise and grabbed the nearest guy by the throat and slammed his knuckles into his jaw, effectively dislocating it. With one down on the ground moaning in pain, Anim turned his attention to the other thug who brandished his own long sword.

"Wrong move fucker." The Hound swung every which way but his sloppy attempts on Anim's life were easily avoided. The bathroom was sufficiently large enough for Anim to backpedal and hop about. And when Anim's back hit the bathroom wall he ducked under the thug's horizontal swing and quickly jabbed the man's sternum. The Hound stumbled backwards but Anim did not let up. He grabbed the Hound by his shirt collar and forced him forehead first into one of the dirty sinks. Somehow the old porcelain held while Anim repeatedly slammed the man's head into the sink, blood slowly splattering over the mirror and into the bowl.

Suddenly a low moan caught Anim's attention and he let the bleeding Hound fall to the ground and scramble away. The other Hound had got back up to his feet and was swinging his long sword wildly at Anim all the while mumbling incoherent threats at him. Anim dodged every swing easily until the Hound brought his sword down in a double handed overhead swing. Stepping to the side, Anim let the skinny man almost fall to the ground given how much momentum was in that swing. He then brought his fist underneath and around the Hound's arm jammed it underneath his rib cage. The man moaned in pain as he was literally dragged into the air by the force of Anim's fist, letting go of his sword in shock as he flew.

The Hound Anim had pounded into the sink could barely look up from his prone spot on the floor before Anim let go of his fist, grab hold of the airborne Hound's shirt, and slam said Hound into his buddy's back. The blow finished off the two thugs, leaving Anim none worse for wear.

"Well, that was exciting. Never did that in a bathroom before," Anim commented as he picked up and digitized the thugs' swords. He was about to frisk them for their wallets before he heard more voices coming from the front door. There were some stairs by the entrance, so they must've come down to investigate. "Ah hell, more incoming."

As the voices and footsteps got closer he could make out about four pairs of shoes scuffling atop the floor. He digitized the PL-473. He was going to need it for sure now.

"Sorry Ruby, but I really have no choice now. Cranz better not have been lying to me." Anim muttered as he stepped back into the hall. He took a few steps towards the entrance before the Hounds finally caught sight of him. Two with pistols, one with an SMG, and one with a sword stopped dead in their tracks as they faced their intruder in the hallway.

"Heya!" Anim greeted before charging down an adjacent hallway. He faintly heard someone yell "Fuck 'em up!" behind him. Yep, same old same old.

He ran for a while before he somehow made it back to the front desk. With the four Hounds quickly losing in Anim ducked underneath the counter and waited. A few seconds later and the armed men arrived. They spread out with the long sword and pistol wielders in the front with the SMG thug slowly walking behind them. The tense silence was thick enough to cut through but when the SMG Hound got close enough, Anim jumped up and grabbed the man from behind, locking his neck in a choke hold and forcing him to be a meat shield.

"There he is!" Pistols were leveled to Anim and his captive while the last thug slowly walked over.

"Don't shoot! Don't fucking shoot!" The terrified Hound yelled as he struggled to escape. But Anim's hold was too tight, though the struggling made aiming the PL-473 difficult.

"Okay," Anim growled as he tightened his hold. "Let's talk."

"Fuck you!" We got nothing to say to you!"

"Really? Because I think your pal here thinks otherwise."

"Yeah!" Anim's captive agreed in sheer terror. "L-let's talk guys. Ju-just drop your fucking-"

A pistol shot to his temple shut the Hound up as he grew limp in Anim's arm. Apparently one Hound got tired of waiting and tried to shoot Anim, only to miss horribly. The Beacon student only glared, tightened his hold to block any more shots, and started firing back. As the first bullet left the barrel it left an almost neon green liquid trail behind it as it flew through the air. The drops of liquid Dust fell to the floor and almost instantly began to eat away at the floor. The bullet nicked the shooter in his left bicep and he screamed in agony as he reflexively let his pistol go. His second shot imbedded itself right into the sword Hound's chest and the man unceremoniously slumped backwards, unmoving and moaning in pain.

"Wh-what the hell kind of weapon is that?" The last Hound screamed in terror as he began to unload his clip at Anim. As the thug started to backpedal shakily, Anim let his meat shield take the bullets as he crept forward. When a faint click signaled the empty state of the pistol, the Hound screamed in both fright and anger and started running. Two 15mm rounds in his back stopped him dead in his tracks.

Anim dropped his improvised shield and let it slam onto the floor. Flecks of blood and viscera splattered courtesy of the dead Hound's friend's shots. He turned to find the sword Hound long dead with a growing puddle of greenish-red liquid gore pooling beneath his body, staining the thug's clothes and the floor with a new coat of natural paint.

"Ugh, not as bad as the aftermath of a Plasma Rifle, but still nasty as-Shit!" Anim ducked as a bullet flew above his head. The last pistol Hound was back on his feet, though slightly quivering from pain, with his pistol flickering back and forth in his right hand.

"You sick bastard!" The Hound hollered in pain as he let loose a flurry of hastily aimed shots.

Anim jumped and swerved against the barrage and quickly closed the gap between them. "Hey I'm honestly as disgusted as you are. I thought I left this kind of stuff behind when I came here." He didn't let the man let another word in as he flicked his wrist and changed the PL-473 into its knife form and jammed it into the Hound's chest. Anim let his momentum to force the screaming Hound down onto the floor and followed it up with a heavy punch to the man's forehead as he straddled him. When the Hound groaned in pain and attempted to raise his pistol again, Anim let loose two more punches before an audible crack was heard throughout the lobby. Anim huffed in slight exhaustion as he stood up and extracted the knife. His third punch had apparently cracked the man's skull if the slight crater in the Hound's forehead was any indication.

"Sorry," muttered Anim as he stood up. He didn't mean to kill the man so horribly.

"I really should've thought about not fighting in my school clothes," Anim said to himself as he wiped the blood off his hands on one of the corpse's shirts. "Didn't even find the laundry room yet…or know how to operate a washing machine. Should probably learn soon."

Looting would have to wait as loud thumps from upstairs signaled the stirring of the remaining Hounds and Anim did not want to get shot simply for being greedy. He sighed and checked Cranz's prototype. Everything seemed fine at least, except from the blood on the blade. "I really hope that Dust-plasma like liquid doesn't spill onto my hands." He turned back to the last Hound he killed and noticed the corpse's bicep was still slightly dissolving and most likely the floor beneath it. "Yeah, really hoping hard here."

With PL-473 quickly changed into its pistol form Anim sprinted up the nearby stairs. Two pistol toting Hounds were waiting for him and let loose a few shots at him while he ran up. He quickly ducked into one of the nearby rooms and caught his breath. That was a little too close.

"Get out here you ass!" One of the Hounds demanded. "We'll only kill you slowly!"

"Yeah! Real messy and slow!" The other taunted as both of them trained their pistols at the door, ready for any sudden movements.

"Really?" Anim replied as he tried to think of a way out of this predicament. "You know I've heard a lot of death threats and taunts before but that ranks up there as some of the worst."

"Wh-wha…really?" Wow, one of them sounded genuinely sad. "I-I mean I thought it was good."

"Hey don't let that jerk get you down." The other Hound said reassuringly. "I thought the messy part was good."

"You really think so? I mean I'm kinda new to the gang so I thought about spicing it up a bit you know? I-I thought it was pretty badass but I guess…"

Anim was almost at the point of full blown laughter now. These guys made the Raiders on Earth seem like rabid Super Mutants in comparison. "Yeah you kind of got the structure of the threat down. But you can add in some nicer details like how you'll tear me limb from limb, or how you'll put my head on a pike, that's a classic one." He pointed out.

'Think Anim!' Anim screamed in his mind as he kept giving his pointless tips out. Seriously, these guys will be dead within a couple of minutes. 'Can't just run out. Don't have any grenades, no explosives at all really. No backup, no other way-Wait! That's it. I'll make my own way out. Cranz did say this place was old.'

"Fucking hell man! That's disgusting!" The Hounds gagged as they tried to remove that mental image from their minds. "We're a gang, not psychopaths! In fact you probably are one! I mean who the hell charges into a hideout all by himself?"

"Yeah no joke. You got to be crazy-" The Hounds were brought from their taunting as a chunk of the room's wall crashed down. Out from the dust and debris jumped Anim with PL-473 already firing. Both Hounds fell down dead before they could even get one last shot off, one with his throat already liquefying and the other with his lungs only seconds away from sharing the same fate.

"Pretty civil for a bunch of bandits." Anim noted as he ran up the next flight of stairs.

This time no one was waiting for him which was very disquieting. That meant Dobern and the rest of his men were waiting for him somewhere. Looking back at the stairs Anim found the last floor was left inaccessible due to rubble from the top floor. Must've been a cave in some time ago. Nevertheless it meant the last of the Vale Hounds were on this floor. It was only a matter of surviving the ambush now.

The motel complex was very small. Each floor only had several motel, less than a dozen or so. The real question however was which one was occupied and which ones weren't. Anim took tentative steps forward with PL-473 raised switching from every passing corner and shadow. The afternoon light was still shining brightly through broken windows which was excellent news for Anim in case the thugs got lucky. So far their raw skill was getting absolutely nowhere.

An open door to a room in the far corner was the only invite Anim got from the Hounds. Seeing no one around still, Anim slowly walked forward.

And quickly dived back out as twin jets of SMG bullets sprayed his general direction. Two Hounds were hiding behind the door frame and now were out in the large hallway blasting at a swerving and retreating Anim. He quickly ducked into another room, feeling a sense of déjà vu. Hearing the slow footsteps of his attackers approaching, he quickly thought of another plan.

Just as the Hounds were about to charge into the room, a portion of the wall broke away. Believing the intruder was going to escape through the improvised exit they both sprayed into the floating white dust. Before they could empty their clip one was already backpedalling from a surprise shot to the abdomen. Anim emerged from the previously guarded doorway and quickly fired two more shots into the wounded Hound's stomach. The thug gave a shriek of pain before tripping backwards and falling down the stairs, dead or soon to be.

The remaining Hound cursed loudly as he realized Anim's bluff and emptied the rest of the clip at him. This time Anim wasn't so lucky as a stray bullet grazed his neck as he dodged around the room. Feeling hot wet pain drip down his torso, he tried to fire a finishing blow only to realize his clip was dry. Fortunately, the Hound ran dry too.

"Shit!" Both men swore as they realized the sudden impasse. The Hound immediately fumbled around in his pockets, hurriedly grabbing a new clip while ejecting the spent one. Anim took the time to close the distance and jammed the PL-473 in its blade form into the man's neck. The Hound gave a gurgled scream as he stared wide eyed at his killers slinking down onto his knees and dropping the SMG as the life drained out of his body and onto Anim's hand. Feeling some fight left in the thug, Anim tightened his grip and ripped the blade away while dodging to the side, cutting a deep gash in the man's throat, spilling crimson blood all over the floor.

As the Hound closed his eyes, Anim's eyes widened in shock as a shotgun blast echoed across the room. Acting on instinct, Anim dived to his side and when he looked up he found the large, and indeed very mustached, Dobern walking out of the far corner room, said shotgun in his hand and a deep frown on his face. He was wearing a heavy looking black combat armor set with the Vale Hound symbol spray painted on the stomach portion. His beastly brown eyes glared deep into Anim's as his lips raised to show off his clenched canines.

"You got some nerve ya stinkin' brat!" The Hound boss roared as he pumped his shotgun, the gun looking a lot like a Hunting Shotgun back on Earth. The weapon looked shoddily spray painted of all things as its coat of black was peeling off to reveal a bright chrome frame. Carved into the left side of the barrel was its name, Gou Zhua, as if it was etched by a knife, its letters jagged like lightning bolts. The stock featured two clam shell like fins on it though its edges were barely covered by a rubber mold. "You come here all gung ho and slaughter my crew, and now I'm fucking angry."

"You made my client angry first Dobern," Anim countered. "I'm just doing Cranz a favor is all. Nothing personal."

"Cranz?" Dobern growled as he kept his shotgun aimed at Anim's gut. "So the little pussy finally decided to deal with my crew huh? Can't run to the police anymore so he sends in a fucking baby after me?"

"I'm eighteen by the way."

"And like I'm supposed to care?"

Anim smirked. This was just as fun as bantering with wasteland Raiders. It was a good way to take the tension off before the hard part came. "Just wanted to let you know this technically-not-a-baby will be the one walking away alive."

"Ha!" Dobern gave one mocking laugh before asking darkly, "You may have killed my Hounds, but you're about to face the top dog now. You aren't leaving here alive. In fact you'll be lucky to be still standing after the first shot."

"Listen," Anim said. "We can do this all day but I have more important business to deal with after dealing with you." Dobern only growled in response. Anim simply shrugged and continued. "So I'll make it simple. You either leave Vale City or I'll kill you here and now. Got it?"

"And what makes you think you can take me on punk?"

"Because even a top dog has to rely on his men to kill his prey." Anim stated as he prepared himself for the incoming fight. "And your prey just took down your entire pack. You have no chance."

"Rawgh!" Dobern screamed in anger as he began shooting. Anim dove away from the incoming hail of metal death and into another intact room. He quickly accessed his Pip-Boy to materialize the last clip and loaded it. Readying the pistol and himself, Anim ran out and began firing. Luckily Dobern wasn't too close so his shots were only barely missing Anim. But that also meant Anim was under heavy fire while he was running and gunning, making his shots miss as well. What followed was both men expending their ammo at each other, running to and fro towards and then away from each other. Anim tried to keep as much distance as possible while Dobern tried to dodge, run forward, and shoot as much as possible, all at the same time. Moldy splinters and stained plaster flew through the air as the bullets tore through the motel. The liquid trail from PL-473 burned through the torn carpets and floorboards and through any wall unfortunate enough to get in its way.

Unfortunately Anim was the first to run out with Dobern following shortly after when Anim crouched behind wall to avoid his fire. Dobern roared in anger when he realized he was out of ammo, cuing Anim to charge from his hiding spot with PL-473 ready to tear through Dobern. The Hound leader responded by reciprocating the charge and transforming his shotgun by twirling it around his hand. As Cranz theorized, the shotgun morphed into a combat shovel. The clam shell design on the barrel now lost its rubber cover and was interlaced with one another, acting as the shovel's blade. The spade's sides were jagged and no doubt sharp enough to cut through loose earth or human flesh while the tip of the blade was pointed and narrow almost like an arrowhead. The shotgun barrel became the shovel's shaft and the rest of the stock into the shovel's looped handle.

"Get over here and die like the little bitch you are!" Dobern taunted as he started to swing at Anim, forcing the student on the defensive. The long shovel made it almost impossible for Anim to get close enough to land a swipe or stab and Dobern was surprisingly fast with his attacks.

'Not good!' Anim thought frantically for a way to get through Dobern's onslaught. The gap between him and the wall behind him was disappearing fast. However he was brought out of his thoughts be a heavy swat to his side by Gou Zhua, sending him crashing through a wall.

"Ugh!" Anim moaned as he stood up. Luckily he was hit by the blunt underside of Gou Zhua so he wasn't cut. "Damn shovel. I have to find a way around it." He dusted his hands before looking down at them, this time hit with inspiration. "Maybe…I can just go right through it."

"Gotcha bitch!" Dobern jumped through the hole in the wall poised for an overhead strike at Anim's skull. Anim sighed nervously and cracked his knuckles. He ran forward to meet Dobern halfway and grabbed the shovel's shaft as Dobern descended, stopping the shovel from slicing through his head. "What the-?"

Dobern flew into the opposite wall as Anim pushed the shovel and the Hound boss to the side. The thug gave a scream of pain as he crashed into the wall head first. However he quickly got up and readied his shovel only to find Anim in front of him with PL-473 already mid-slash. Dobern jumped backwards, forcing all of his strength into that one jump to break through the wall, forcing Anim to miss and cover his eyes against the wave of crumbled plaster and dust.

Dobern quickly staggered onto his feet and charged again into the dust cloud. He caught Anim in the gut with a shoulder tackle and sent him tumbling towards the foot of the room's bed. Anim quickly shook the stars from his head and rolled away from the overhead swipe of Gou Zhua. He jumped back on his feet and gave his own shoulder tackle, forcing Dobern onto the bed. Anim's attempt for a direct stab to Dobern's unprotected neck was canceled by a strong kick in the chest and now both men were back to square one again.

"You're pretty tough for a kid." Dobern admitted, rolling his jaw and spitting on the ground. "What's your name? Only fair I get to know yours if you know mine already."

"Anim. Nice to meet you." The Wastelander greeted.

"Strange name," muttered Dobern as he gripped his shovel harder. "Well, no matter. I'll have plenty of time to think about that name once you're dead."

"Whatever." Anim was not in the mood to talk and joke around anymore. All he wanted was to go back to Beacon and rest now. After a day filled with fighting Grimm, meeting new people, and now fighting bandits, he was ready to relax.

They charged at each other again, this time with Dobern executing a hefty swing to Anim's neck. Anticipating the move, Anim dropped done to a slide and avoided potential decapitation. Once he passed the outreached shovel Anim jumped up in between Dobern's arms. The sudden closeness caught the Hound boss off guard and he was forced to let of Gou Zhua with one hand in order to try to get away. But Anim was faster and stabbed PL-473 right into Dobern's jugular. However whereas a normal man would just gurgle and fall over dying, Dobern roared, before he started coughing up blood, and headbutted the Wastelander's forehead in rage. To his shock Anim was unfazed; in fact Dobern quickly decided that was a bad idea as his head along with his throat was now throbbing in pain now.

Anim returned the attack with a glare and a headbutt of his own. His was considerably more damaging than Dobern's and the strike had enough force behind it to send the Hound flat on his back. With whatever strength he could muster, Dobern flipped over and tried to stand up, using Gou Zhua to help prop him up.

But Anim was having none of that and kicked Dobern's side. The man gave a faint cough and tried again, only to have Anim step on his back and force him down on the ground. He straddled Dobern's back and pried away Gou Zhua from his weakening hands, throwing the shovel across the destroyed room. Then he pulled PL-473 out from Dobern's neck and stabbed it into the back of his head, finally ending the Hound's life.

A few minutes of silence followed with Anim quietly catching his breath. He slowly stood up and wiped the blood on PL-473 on the nearby bed before digitizing it, silently thanking Cranz for the help. Looking at his Pip-Boy he found it was almost 3PM, meaning he had only spent a little over thirty minutes clearing the place out.

"Damn, I really thought I left this kind of shit behind me," Anim gasped as he flipped Dobern over, ready to start looting. But upon seeing how much blood was soaking into Dobern's front side he grew hesitant on putting his hands on the body. "And this messy part especially." Still, it would be a waste to leave all these weapons and valuables behind.

"Oh wait," Anim lightly bonked himself on the head in exasperation. "I totally forgot I could do that." He grabbed the relatively clean leg of Dobern's corpse and turned to his Pip-Boy, finding the "Outside Inventory" section. There he found a nice list detailing everything Dobern had on his body, including small amount of Lien, his Combat Armor, and some spare shotgun ammo that he didn't bother to use during the brawl. Seeing as how the armor was caked with blood and had a bad paint job to boot, Anim just took everything else. Small flashes of amber light peeked into the outside from within Dobern's armor before dissipating.

"Oh yeah, that's why. Can't do that without telling everyone in the room I was stealing using my Pip-Boy." Anim muttered as he went over to pick Gou Zhua. It was pretty damn heavy, which slightly raised Anim's impressions of Dobern. To swing this thing around as fast he was, he had to have been as strong as Brahmin bull. If he were back in the Mojave Anim might've kept the weapon for personal use, but here it is too cumbersome compared to everything else available to him.

Digitizing the weapon to sell it later, if he could actually find a buyer later…maybe Cranz would be willing to buy it, Anim quickly made a detour into the previously and heavily guarded room. In it he found what seemed to be the stash room for the Hound gang. A few extra clips of ammo and two more pistols were stored here as well as a small bundle of Lien bills and some Dust vials, no doubt stolen from somewhere and ready to be sold for as bloody money. Over to the side was a small closet of clothing, probably extras that the gang had accumulated over time from the people they mugged or killed. One piece in particular caught Anim's eye.

'Hmm, that's a nice suit there.' Anim thought as he looked it over. "Matching slacks too? Oh right! Oh..yeah…should probably grab an extra one of those."

"You're back!" Ruby squealed with joy as she ran up to give Anim a big hug of relief. Anim laughed happily and bent down to return, albeit carefully as to not hurt her. He looked much better than he did after his fight with Dobern. His wound healed nicely during his looting session and he washed all the dust and blood off of himself just before he left. Sure his clothes were still dusty, but at least they weren't ripped. "Thank god you're okay!"

"I told you I could handle it." Anim replied as they broke apart. They're eyes met for a brief moment, causing Ruby to look away nervously while Anim simply ignored the moment and walked over to Cranz.

"Fine…that sounds good Smitty. Okay he's back so I'll fly up there tomorrow." Apparently Cranz was still talking with Smitty about weapon designs. Anim opted to just wait patiently. "Well," Cranz turned around and gave a small grin at Anim's supposed success. However he still wasn't totally convinced. "I suppose congratulations are in order…if you can prove it."

"This enough proof?" Anim clicked his Pip-Boy and digitized Gou Zhua. He handed it over and after a brief inspection Cranz nodded in satisfaction.

"Yeah that's Gou Zhua alright. I recognize that ugly paint job anywhere." Cranz acknowledged. "You have my prototype?"

"Yep, had to use all the ammo though, sorry." Anim quickly did the same with PL-473 before he realized something. "Wait, so you're not questioning how I'm doing all that."

"What?" Cranz asked as he grimaced at the leftover blood on the blade. "You mean the light show and that wrist device of yours? Not really. I may have a good grasp of electrical engineering and physics but only within the realm of weapons and that device is certainly not one. While I am interested in how it's doing…whatever it is that you're doing with it, getting my hands on it will only cause more complications rather than help me. So there's no point."

"Okay then," Anim sighed in relief. "Thanks. I really didn't want to explain it."

"Whatever." Cranz replied. "In any event you fulfilled your end of the bargain. I already told Smitty I'll be heading over to Beacon tomorrow to start working on your weapons. I estimate we'll be done with them around Friday."

"Woah!" Anim remarked. "That quick?"

"No need for thanks, in fact, though I am loath to admit to a blackmailer, I should be thanking you. From what Smitty has told me your weapons may hold the key to further advancing our own weaponry for Vale's military, especially within the realm of EML weaponry. With any luck, you and your alien technology might help save Remnant more than you can ever comprehend."

"So you know, about who I really am then." Anim stated.

Cranz merely nodded. "Smitty is not a tight lipped man. But it does explain how your weaponry is so much more advanced than our own in some regards. Don't worry, I'm much better at keeping secrets than he is."

"Well, as long as my weapons can help Vale defend against Grimm better, I suppose that's a plus." Anim admitted.

"And help make more super cool weapons in the future!" Ruby chirped from the side, happy at the prospects of more awesome weapons later. She and Anim shared a small laugh while Cranz merely shook his head and rolled his eyes.

"By the way," Anim said as he picked up Gou Zhua. "Mind if I sell some stuff here?"

"What stuff? Weapons?" Cranz asked before motioning around the room. "I'm overflowing with the stuff, besides I have no need for thug quality goods."

"Well," Anim scratched his head as he tried to think of a counter. "What if you…uhh…"

"Why don't you sell them back to other stores?" Ruby brought up. Both men gave her a questioning look. "I mean, every time I walk into a weapons shop the owners always ask if I'm willing to sell Crescent Rose as a unique weapon for a shop centerpiece. I always tell them no obviously because she's my precious, but I'm sure if you rebuilt these weapons you can sell them quick as unique weapons too. You can use them as basic models for future prototypes even, or break them down if you're running low on gun smithing supplies."

"Hmm," Cranz rubbed his greasy chin in thought. "I suppose there is some merit in your thinking girl. Take them out and I'll see what you have."

"Wow Ruby," Anim marveled as he started mass materializing almost everything he looted. "Thanks the support."

"No problem! Always happy to help." Ruby beamed at the light praise. "Back at Signal they had all kinds of old weapons that we could break down or remodel. I made Crescent Rose using some old parts there with my uncle's help. I always try to upgrade my precious though, so I'm always working on it around the clock."

"Can you spare some time to help me and my weapons out if I need it?" Anim asked as Cranz started tallying all the weapons and ammo Anim produced.

Ruby gave a faint blush at the question, suddenly feeling much smaller than usual next to her giant teammate. "S-sure! Anytime." She chirped.

"Alright thanks team leader." Anim cheered as he gave Ruby another small hug. She practically melted into it as she began to lean into his muscular form.

"No thanks needed Anim. After all I am team leader and it's my job to make sure my teammates are all happy and ready for anything."

"CAL!"

"Eep!" Ruby literally jumped up into the air and into Anim's arms as he caught her on her descent. Anim chuckled at Ruby's embarrassment and slowly put her down before turning to Cranz and an approaching CAL.

"Yes Cranz? What do you require of me?" CAL asked in its usual monotone voice.

"I got several clips of 22mm SMG and 9mm pistol ammo including several 20 gauge buckshot rounds, all non-Dust, along with four C-12 Luble Blades all in poor condition, six GS Ramparts Pistols all in fair condition, three SCE-85 Blanckett SMGs in fair condition, and a shotgun-shovel with a functioning foldable frame in…relatively poor condition given the engraving and discoloration. Estimate repair and subsequent selling prices."

"Processing." Several moments passed before CAL spoke again. "Repair costs estimated to be around six hundred and fifty four Lien in raw materials, total revenue generated from selling of repaired items estimated to be around one thousand one hundred and two Lien."

"Okay then that means a difference of four hundred and forty eight Lien." Cranz surmised. "I'll take it for two hundred."

"Two hundred?" Anim asked with a frown. "How about three hundred?"

"And narrow my profit margin by that much? No way. I don't owe you anything anymore so I'm calling the shots now. Two hundred Lien."

"Two hundred fifty?"

"Wh-no! Two hundred and not one bill more." Cranz finalized, crossing his arms.

Anim only shrugged and materialized a pair of slacks into his hands. "Two hundred twenty five and I'll throw in these. Deal?"

Cranz looked at the slacks in silence as Anim kept his steely gaze on the weapons smith. Ruby was trying once again to not look at Cranz's exposed underwear.

"Deal."

"Sorry about breaking my promise Ruby. But when it all started going south I had no choice. I can assure the ones I left alive will not be going back to being thugs though." Anim apologized after stepped off the airship and onto the Beacon campus.

"It's okay Anim." Ruby replied in a small voice. "I know sometimes we have to in order to save others. Those guys certainly deserved it for what they've done, but I…I…"

"Ruby." Anim stopped and put a hand on her shoulder to help her relax. "Stop. You don't have to think about it."

"Then can I ask, how do you deal with it?" Ruby asked as she looked up at Anim. "Is it like…second nature?" She asked frightfully. There was a huge knot in her stomach when the last words left her mouth. If killing people was so easy after a while, with no room for remorse or guilt…then what good are hunters and huntresses compared to these bad people?

"No…it's not," replied Anim. "Back on Earth it sometimes feels like second nature, but for me I always try to rationalize why I would have to kill someone. Most of the time it's for defense and survival out in the wastes, but other times it's because of a difference of principles. In any event, I never forget why or who I've killed. I've never killed for fun or for some kind of sick enjoyment like many people back on Earth did. I did it because I have to, to protect either myself or others."

Ruby nodded as Anim took a deep breath. "The guilt never leaves, it never does. I always wonder if I could've done differently, and when I realize I could've, the guilt just grows worse."

"What about today?" Ruby asked. "Could it have?"

"Maybe," Anim shrugged as they continued walking. They were alone for the most part as any students around them were too far away to hear their conversation. They walked slowly as to not grab the attention of any eavesdroppers. "I tried asking the first gang member to talk to Dobern, thinking I can strike some kind of deal to get him and his gang to leave. But instead the thug just put a pistol up to my nose, ready to shoot when he felt like it." Ruby gasped silently at the story, memories of her fight with Roman clouding her mind again. "I had to beat him down. Afterwards I knew there was no turning back. So I tried knocking some of them out. When they started shooting though, I had no choice."

"Oh," Ruby whispered. On one hand she really didn't want to know more about how those men died, but she also really wanted to hear how Anim felt about the whole thing. She was truly thankful that he felt genuinely concerned about killing people, just as she did.

"I do pray you never have to take a life Ruby," Anim whispered, so softly that Ruby almost didn't catch it. "I don't want you to have that kind of weight throughout your life."

"I might one day." Ruby said. "I just have to be ready."

"You're never really ready," Anim stated. He remembered back to the Powder Gangers at Goodsprings. He thought he was ready to kill those criminals, but when the fight broke out his stomach still couldn't stand the thought of erasing another human's life, even if they were murderers. "It does get easier, but you can't let it consume you."

Silence settled between the two teammates. The mood grew to a somber low during their talk, but Ruby's spirit was slightly lifted by Anim's advice and hopes. "Thanks Anim, and anytime you need help, I'll always be ready...just not this time."

"Thanks Ruby. It means a lot to me." Anim chuckled. "And by the way, is taking stuff from dead bad guys not allowed?"

"Uh…" Ruby honestly couldn't respond to such a question. "I mean…I suppose it's better than letting it lie around."

"Okay then…thanks."

"You want to take a shower? And change?" Ruby asked as she realized just how dirty Anim's clothes were.

"Yeah my thoughts exactly," Anim stretched and relaxed his muscles. "What a long day. Finished initiation, met my new team, made new friends, took out a gang hideout…" As they neared the center of the campus Anim's eyes widened as he caught a glimpse of something far away that he had hoped he would never see again.

"No…" His legs were already sprinting. His heart was pounding as he caught those damned colors enter the dormitory. His eyes wide, fearful and angry.

Ruby was perplexed to say the least. One second Anim was happy and the next he was acting all crazy. "Wait! What's wrong!" She had to use her Semblance to catch up but she was stopped by the front doors and had to slow down to get through.

By then Anim neared his target as he practically jumped up the stairs to catch that dreaded scum as before he could exit the elevator. His mouth was on autopilot as he kept whispering. On the way he almost bumped into a blonde armored student who stumbled and fell down the stairs in surprise. Anim whispered a sorry as he regained his footing and kept climbing the stairs.

"Ow. What the? Who was that? And why is running in such a hurry?" Juane moaned and asked to himself as he picked himself up from the ground. After dusting his clothes off he found a panicking Ruby running up to him, her face filled with worry. "Woah Ruby! What's going on!"

"Anim! Where did he go?" She asked hurriedly.

"Anim?" Juane asked before realization hit him. "Wait was he the guy who was running up the stairs? He ran right by me and I fell."

"Hurry!" Ruby hollered as she grabbed his wrist and quickly followed Anim's footsteps. Her Semblance would only trip her on the stairs so she had to run as fast as her legs could carry her. "I don't know what happened but he suddenly got scared and angry and started running this way. Do you know why?"

"Me?" Juane yelled as he barely kept up with his friend and captor. "I don't know! All I heard was him whisper something about a Legionaire and then a sorry!"

Sorry for the wait. Vacation and now school got in the way of this chapter. Hopefully it's long enough to justify it.

Made it a game to see when I could add skill required dialogue sections in this chapter. Hopefully they make sense in the grand scheme of things.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter thoroughly. Reviews and feedback are always welcomed.

I'll add some weapon specs too to give you an idea of what kind of heat the Hounds were packing. Remember these weapons are state of the art compared to the ones back on Earth. Plus this a more realistic depiction of RWBY, so expect some high numbers to show lethality.

C-12 Luble Blades
DMG: 95
WT: 6
Big and red, just like the wounds it's gonna carve into the poor sucker you're pointing this thing at.

GS Ramparts Pistol
DMG: 150
WT: 4
AMMO: 9mm

If pistols could be humans, this one would be an angry homeless man given how gnarly it is. At least it's only slightly quieter and much more accurate than an actual one.

SCE-85 Blanckett SMGs
DMG: 125/shot
WT: 5
AMMO: 9mm
With how much recoil this thing pumps out, you better start praying well in advance before you start spraying.

Gou Zhua
DMG(GUN): 455
DMG(Melee): 265
WT: 13
AMMO: 20 gauge buckshot
You don't want your target to dig their own grave with this gun. Trust me.